Category: Sports News

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees will have a good head of steam as they bus 30 miles up the 5 Freeway for their World Series rematch against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

New York’s 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels gave the AL East leaders 16 wins in 20 games.

Clarke Schmidt continued a six-week stretch of superb starting pitching with six shutout innings, and Anthony Volpe drove in the only run with a first-inning sacrifice fly as the Yankees (35-20) completed a three-game sweep and sent the Angels (25-30) to their fifth straight loss.

A Yankees rotation that lost ace Gerrit Cole to season-ending elbow surgery and has two other starters — Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman — on the injured list has a major league-best 2.54 ERA over the last 40 games and has limited opponents to one run or less in 22 of those starts.

Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run and two hits in six innings of a 5-1 win over the Angels, left-hander Carlos Rodon gave up five hits in seven scoreless innings of a 3-2 win, and Schmidt, a right-hander, gave up four hits in his six shutout innings.

Left-hander Max Fried, who is 7-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 11 starts, will pitch the series opener against the Dodgers, and right-hander Will Warren, who is 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA in 11 starts, is scheduled to pitch the second game.

“They’ve given us a chance to win every single night,” said Yankees reliever Mark Leiter Jr., who notched his second save with a scoreless ninth inning.

“Each guy is going out there and doing it a little different way, putting their own spin on it, which is great for us, because it gives them a different look for six or seven innings, and we get to do our thing with a different look for the last couple innings. You’re only as good as your starting pitching, generally, and they’ve been great.”

The NL West-leading Dodgers (34-22) have three frontline starters — Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki — and four high-leverage relievers — Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech and Kirby Yates — on the injured list.

But they still have plenty of star power, with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, who have combined to win five MVP awards, plus Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith at the top of their lineup.

“Yeah, it will feel big,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the matchup. “Now, we won’t go in treating it any differently, but we played the Subway Series (against the New York Mets) last week, and there was a lot of hype for that. I think these are good things for our guys to play in and experience.”

The series will feature two of the best players in baseball in Judge and Ohtani, both coming off an MVP season.

Judge, who has won two American League MVPs, leads the AL in batting average (.391), on-base percentage (.488), slugging percentage (.739), OPS (1.227) and hits (81) — numbers that prompted the Angels to intentionally walk Judge twice in the first two innings. He is tied for third in the majors in home runs (18) and ranks fourth in RBIs (47).

Ohtani, who has won three MVPs — his first two with the Angels in 2021 and 2023 — leads the major leagues with 20 homers and 59 runs and ranks third in OPS (1.042). He produced baseball’s first 50-50 season with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases in 2024.

The two-way star, who has a 38-19 record and 3.01 ERA in 86 starts over five seasons but did not pitch while recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2024, is also on track to return to the mound sometime after the All-Star break.

“I think Judge has been the best hitter in the sport now for a number of years, but what Shohei does with his speed and, when he’s healthy, being an ace on the mound, and his ability to swing the bat … we haven’t seen that,” Boone said.

“Ohtani, when you add in the pitching element, is just so unique, like nothing we’ve ever seen in this game.”

Freeman, the Dodgers first baseman, hit four homers, including a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning of Game 1, and drove in 12 runs to earn World Series MVP honors last October.

Freeman’s two-run single also keyed a five-run rally in the fifth inning that helped the Dodgers overcome a 5-0 deficit in their series-clinching 7-6 victory in Game 5 at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees held Ohtani to two hits in 19 at-bats (.105) and no RBIs in the World Series, but he played the final three games with a dislocated left shoulder that was surgically repaired after the season.

“You have to execute (pitches) at a high level against him, or we’re backing up bases or getting a new ball,” Boone said. “We did a pretty good job against him in the World Series last year, but he’s also hit some big homers against us.”

The Yankees will have a Dodgers nemesis that they didn’t have last October in veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who signed a one-year, $12.5 million deal last winter and is batting .347 with an .899 OPS, five homers and 27 RBIs in his first 55 games with the Yankees.

A former Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals slugger, Goldschmidt has a .283 average, .872 OPS, 35 homers and 109 RBIs in 163 career games against the Dodgers and a .308 average, .928 OPS, 19 homers and 50 RBIs in 77 games in Dodger Stadium.

“I would say he’s more than an X-factor,” Boone said of Goldschmidt, who led off the last game with a double and scored on Volpe’s sacrifice fly. “He’s one of our dudes.”

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper missed Thursday's doubleheader opener against the Atlanta Braves and wasn't in the starting lineup for the second game, two days after being hit by a pitch on the right elbow.

Harper was hit by a 95.3 mph fastball from Braves pitcher Spencer Strider during the first inning of Tuesday night’s game. X-rays were negative, but the 32-year-old Harper had swelling and pain.

“He’s doing better,” manager Rob Thomson said before the Phillies won the opener 5-4. “He came in yesterday for treatment. He’s in there now. I believe he still had swelling and was still in pain, but it’s a lot better than we expected, so it’s making progress.

“He hasn’t swung the bat yet. ... I wouldn’t put him in a game until he’s comfortable swinging a bat.”

Thomson said Harper had no additional testing after the original X-ray. He said he hopes Harper will wear an elbow guard once he does return to action.

“I think it’s a little uncomfortable for him. I think he feels like it restricts him a little bit,” Thomson said. “But, I hope he wears it.”

Harper, a two-time MVP, is hitting .267 with eight home runs, 33 RBIs and an .825 OPS.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Major League Baseball is investing in Athletes Unlimited to support its softball league that will debut next month, marking the first time MLB will have a comprehensive partnership with a professional women’s sports league.

MLB said Thursday it was making a strategic investment in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League of an undisclosed amount for operational costs and a commitment to help it gain visibility in various ways, including assistance with content, marketing and sales, events, distribution, editorial, and digital and social platforms. That includes marketing the AUSL and its athletes during MLB's All-Star Game and throughout the postseason.

“This is something we’re really excited about,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press. “We studied the space hard. We think it’s a real opportunity and we’re excited to be involved.”

Athletes Unlimited has featured softball since 2020, when it unveiled a unique format that crowned an individual champion. The company will launch a league with a traditional, team-based format starting June 7 and will keep its individual format for the AUSL All-Star Cup that follows.

Manfred noted that interest in women’s sports had “escalated significantly” in recent years and his league had been looking for ways to get more involved, including the possible launch of its own softball league. He said Athletes Unlimited’s overall success and its strong infrastructure helped make the decision to collaborate easier.

“We thought rather than starting on our own and competing, that finding a place where we could invest and grow a business was a better opportunity for us,” Manfred said.

Kim Ng, a former Major League Baseball executive, signed on as an adviser with the AUSL and was promoted to commissioner in April. Ng is the former general manager of the Miami Marlins, the first female GM in any of the major U.S. pro sports leagues, and has three World Series rings from a combined 21 years in the front offices of the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

“As the process moved forward and it looked like we were going to make an investment, they hired Kim, and we had a long relationship with Kim, and it just added additional comfort to the idea of making the investment,” Manfred said.

Athletes Unlimited co-founder Jon Patricof said MLB’s commitment to increasing the AUSL’s visibility is as important as the financial investment.

“They’re committed to really elevating the AUSL,” he said. “It’s probably about one of the most difficult things for any sports league to do which is to get visibility and break through to new audiences, and I think MLB is already doing that for the AUSL, and there’s going to be a lot more to come.”

Women’s pro softball leagues and independent teams have come and gone over the years, but none have offered a consistent option for women to have a stable future in the sport.

It appears that might change, with the help of softball greats Cat Osterman, Jennie Finch, Jessica Mendoza and Natasha Watley as AUSL advisors. On June 7, the Bandits and Talons will open with a three-game series in Rosemont, Illinois, and the Blaze and Volts will start off with a three-game series in Wichita, Kansas. The four teams will play 24 games this season as touring properties that will play games in 12 cities. The top two teams will compete in the AUSL Championship, a best-of-three series July 26-28 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Patricof said the league plans to expand to six teams next season and be city based.

MLB already supports several women's softball and baseball initiatives, including a partnership with USA Softball and operation of the MLB Develops girls baseball pipeline. It is not involved with the upstart Women's Professional Baseball League, which plans to launch in 2026 as the first pro baseball league for women since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League - of "A League of Their Own" fame - folded in 1954.

Manfred said he sees a bright future ahead for AUSL.

“I fully expect that they will expand, and we hope that we will end up with a league that is sustainable on its own, a good investment for us, and a partner in growing diamond sports internationally,” he said.

Patricof said the partnership with MLB and the already existing relationship between the Athletes Unlimited and USA Softball combine to help give the AUSL stability.

“As we announce MLB coming into the fold formally into what we’re doing with the AUSL, you really see a full alignment of this sport behind this league, and that I think is exciting for everyone,” Patricof said. “People who have sat on the sidelines or maybe have watched pro softball from a little bit of distance - everybody’s now jumped in, and I think that is an exciting moment for people who’ve been around this sport.”

SEATTLE — Even after hitting his first career home run, Robert Hassell III didn’t have much time to hang around the clubhouse and talk about it.

His girlfriend was waiting.

Eager to meet her at the team hotel, Hassell hustled onto the Washington bus and — with the help of a Nationals staffer — fielded questions from reporters via cellphone.

“I don’t want to have her waiting too long,” Hassell said. “My apologies.”

Playing his sixth major league game, Hassell had three hits and two RBIs for the Nationals in a 9-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

The 23-year-old prized outfield prospect was drafted eighth overall by San Diego in 2020 and traded to Washington — along with James Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore — for Juan Soto and Josh Bell in a blockbuster deal at the August 2022 deadline.

Hassell began the night batting .118 (2 for 17) with one RBI since making his debut. Before the game, Nationals manager Dave Martinez pulled Hassell aside and advised him to focus on the present rather than allowing himself to become over-amped.

“You want to try to do a lot,” Martinez said. “But, this game is tough enough. It’s tough enough.”

Hassell responded with by far his best performance yet. He hit an RBI single in the fourth inning and a solo homer in the eighth that made it 7-0.

The sweet-swinging lefty tried to focus on hitting balls to the opposite field. But when he got a pitch to jump on, he turned on a four-seam fastball from Mariners right-hander Blas Castano and drove it over the right-center fence for what Hassell called the best home run of his baseball career.

“This is the best one,” he said. “Something I’ve been waiting for, and you imagine what it’s like and all that, and it finally happened and I feel blessed.”